Deakin University to give $25m emergency aid to international students

Deakin University will spend $25m on emergency aid for international students who have lost jobs and can’t support themselves.

Deakin University vice-chancellor Iain Martin.

Deakin University will spend up to $25 million in the next six months in emergency aid for its 16,000 international students, many of whom have lost their part-time jobs and have no way to support themselves in Australia.

In an email to Deakin students on Thursday, vice-chancellor Iain Martin said “some of those students face a very desperate situation where their part-time and casual work is gone or drying up, and they can’t return home yet can’t afford to stay.”

The aid for international students is in addition to other support the university is giving to domestic students who are experiencing hardship because of COVID-19.

International students are required to come to Australia with enough money to support themselves for their first year, but in later years typically take casual work – usually in the retail and service sectors – to support themselves. They are allowed to work 40 hours a fortnight under the conditions of their student visas.

READ MORE: Melbourne Uni loses $500m | $470m shortfall at Sydney Uni | Two key moves to save sector| Dreadful toll on students | Kiwis put us to shame

However they are not eligible for the government coronavirus support packages which apply to many domestic students who have lost their jobs.

“(International) students’ income is going to be fading away very quickly. This is now a genuine welfare issue,” the Professor Martin told The Australian.

He said the university’s emergency assistance would be aimed at second and third year students who “through no fault of their own have found themselves in this position”.

The package was intended to help international students get through the next few months and continue studying, he said. The university would distribute the support according to the needs of individual students, whether it be food, short-term accommodation or something else. It would not be available to first year students.

Professor Martin said that about half the university’s international students were from India and, at the moment, were unable to go home even if they wanted to because India has banned all passenger flights in and out of the country.

Currently there are 550,000 international students in Australia and Professor Martin is hoping that government will soon step in to offer them assistance.

“Others will come to the party but we couldn’t wait any longer,” he said.

He said that the $25 million in aid from Deakin, while a large sum, was still a “relatively small contribution” considering the scale of the need.

He added that there were many international students enrolled with smaller independent education providers which would find it difficult to give students support.

Other universities have also announced substantial student support packages for both international and domestic students. Monash University’s is worth $15 million, but Deakin’s, at $25 million, is the biggest so far.

Professor Martin said the university hoped Deakin University’s support would get students through the next few months and enable them to continue their courses. So far about 95 per cent of international students remain enrolled, he said.

“International students over the past decade have contributed hugely to the status and standing of Australian higher education,” he said.